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So many development boards out there. What’s this “new” one, the BeagleBone Black? Well, as David Scheltema, Assistant Technical Editor for MAKE explains, BeagleBoard has been around for about five years, though the smaller BeagleBone Black is pretty new.

At Maker Faire NYC, David provided an nice introduction to the BeagleBone Black, and explained how it has been used to make projects like OpenROV’s underwater rover or Hoboken Makerbar’s Orbital Rendersphere.

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For about $45, you get a single board 1GHz computer capable of running a Linux distribution. The BeagleBone Black has USB, Ethernet and video (HDMI) interfaces, and header pins for expansion. Expansion boards are called “capes”, and include all sorts of functionality for video, memory, sensors and controls.

(David presented this talk a few times during Maker Faire weekend. I selected the version of the video I felt best represented his content.)

Andrew Terranova is an electrical engineer, writer and an electronics and robotics hobbyist. He is an active member of the Let’s Make Robots community, and handles public relations for the site.
Andrew has created and curated robotics exhibits for the Children’s Museum of Somerset County, NJ and taught robotics classes for the Kaleidoscope Learning Center in Blairstown, NJ and for a public primary school. Andrew is always looking for ways to engage makers and educators.

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It is not so new that I should be having the problems getting one that I am. It is really getting annoying. I don’t need all the parts in the “Getting Started” kit since I already have the book from an earlier sale and all of the components in my home workspace. Please ramp up production. I have a million ideas. I’m not seeing the community around it that I see around the RPi. Why is supply so limited?

Eric Weinhoffer

Hi Wal,

Glad to hear you have the book already, and plenty of components to make some cool stuff with the BeagleBone Black. Unfortunately, we don’t have any control over the production of the board, and get them as often as we can. We’re waiting on a shipment right now, and should have them back in stock shortly. If you’d like to be notified when that happens, feel free to input your email here: http://www.makershed.com/Email_Me_When_Back_In_Stock.asp?ProductCode=MKCCE3

Thanks for your understanding, and have a great weekend.
Eric

Walt

Thank you for your reply. I wasn’t trying to give the impression that Make Magazine or the Makershed could be trying to do more. I was just trying to vent some frustration at my inability to get my hands on one. My narrative was aimed more at the question about why it seems so hard to keep up with demand when the Raspi, which appears to be selling a lot more units is available everywhere I look.